The Berkeley College women's basketball team advanced to the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship for the first time in its history, today defeating the Warriors Vaughn College by a score of 97-29. The game took place at Five Towns College in Dix Hills, NY. The Knights, who are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, improved their record to 8-7 on the season. With the defeat, Vaughn College finalized its 2019-2020 campaign at 3-9.
The victory for the Knights was a reverse of fortune for Berkeley, as the team had suffered consecutive overtime defeats in the semifinal round during the 2016-2017 (69-64 to Albany Pharmacy) and 2017-2018 (78-77 to College of New Rochelle) seasons. Berkeley is now 3-7 all-time in the HVIAC Tournament, with all three victories coming against Vaughn College. Following the game, Head Coach Dondre Simmons gave his thoughts.
"We take a tremendous amount of pride in being the first women's basketball team at Berkeley College to advance to the conference championship game," Simmons said. "With that being said, we also understand that there is one more step to take in order to solidify this championship. Albany College of Pharmacy is a very solid program with a history of competing in this tournament, and we know they'll be ready tomorrow to leave everything they have on the floor. We'll also do the same. It should be a terrific game featuring two talented teams. We're ready."
In the win for Berkeley College, standout Kaina Martinez registered a quadruple double, netting 17 points, posting game-highs of 17 assists and 11 steals, and snatching 13 rebounds. Jennifer Lightner connected on 12 of her 21 attempts from the floor to finish with a game-high 24 points. She also recorded seven steals, four assists, and three boards. Daniella Wood posted a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds, and veteran Ebony Lofton scored 14 points while grabbing eight rebounds. Brittanny Mitchell contributed 12 points, seven steals, and five caroms, and Lalibela Rigaud added nine points, 12 rebounds, four steals and a game-high three swatted shots.
Despite the loss for Vaughn College, Alexa Cruz registered team-highs of 12 points and 13 rebounds. In addition, it was Xylene DeCoteau finalizing her afternoon with 11 points and six rebounds (four on the offensive glass), and Zuleika Briceno contributed four points, seven rebounds, and team-highs of six assists, and four steals.
Berkeley raced out to a 7-0 advantage in the opening 2:41 of action, and held a 23-10 edge after the conclusion of the first quarter. The Knights essentially put the game away in the second quarter, outscoring the Warriors by an astonishing count of 25-2, to take a 48-12 into the locker room at break. Berkeley would continue to push, going up by as many 72 points, before winning by 68.
The Knights dominated the game in every imaginable facet in punching their ticket to the conference final. Berkeley connected on 43.9 percent of its attempts from the floor (47-107), while the Warriors drilled just 12 of their shots (12-54, 22.2 percent). The Knights held a commanding 64-37 edge in the rebounding department, while also collecting 26 assists compared to 10 for the opposition. Berkeley turned the ball over only 12 times while forcing 41 Vaughn miscues, and the Knights scored 22 second chance points to the Warriors' two.
Tomorrow afternoon, Berkeley and Albany College of Pharmacy will meet for the conference title at 1:00pm. The winner of that game not only wins the HVIAC championship, but also receives an automatic bid to the USCAA Division II National Women's Basketball Tournament.
